Mark is the founder, CEO and chief product officer of Zynga. He founded the company in 2007 with a mission of connecting the world through games, and in founding zynga.org, he also believes that games can do good.

On his way to creating Zynga, Mark started three companies. In 2003, he launched Tribe.net, one of the first social networks. Before that, he founded Support.com, a pioneer in automating tech support, and took it public. In 1995, he launched FreeLoader, the first web-based consumer push company. Mark started his career in new media and venture capital before he discovered his calling as a consumer technology entrepreneur. Mark also made founding investments in Napster, Brightmail, Twitter and Facebook.

Mark graduated summa cum laude from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is an angel investor in multiple Silicon Valley startups and regularly gives lectures to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Comments

Mark, I read an excerpt of your interview bayuser where you talk about engaging users and the freemium model.

But do you realise what high prices your games charge? Do you not understand, that with such high prices, the engagement dissolves, the game becomes stressful, unrealistic, and no longer enjoyable? Do you or your employees not understand, when a game like yoville is for decorating and socializing, that should be the main thrust of the game, working like a dog to buy a single item to decorate a corner of your house shouldn't be the main thrust should it? Do you look at the satisfaction levels in the game? Because no matter how much a person is addicted or likes your games, a time will come when they will realise it's just not worth it anymore, the bubble will burst and people will quit! Zynga's got it all wrong, If you're in it for the short term, to make as much money you want, then crash the company, and go on to another, I understand your outlook. If not, you know there's something called macroeconomics for businesses too where you consider, the immediate costs you must incur for long term sustainability and revenue!

For eg. In a manufacturing set up, it means, you might want to invest in giving your machinery, a one day break and spending on maintenance every week so that it runs smoothly for years to come, instead of running it continuously day and night, and breaking down in a month, incurring massive production/inventory/customer losses which are damaging to the business in the long term. I play Yoville, and every release day, all everyone realises and talks about is Zynga's greed. How is this engagement positive or sustainable? This short sightedness on Zynga's behalf shocks me. You have ivy leaguers working for you. I really really cannot believe top US universities send out people like this.